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Odessa Simone Shlain Goldberg

As one of our ten nominees for TPFG’s Super Girl Contest, it was Odessa Goldberg’s conviction in her words and her self-confidence that made us stop in our tracks and realize the strength, wisdom and potential of this inspiring teen. Odessa is open, honest and willing to ask questions. She is ready and willing to strike up a conversation on relevant and important conversations that mean something to her and her process. In the opening paragraph of her essay for TPFG, she explains…“If I’m a supergirl, it’s simply because I know of a superpower: the breathtaking power of words. We all use words: it’s how we communicate, how we share, how we coexist in this world, but overthese past years I have only began to understand how brilliant, magical and transformative words can be if used correctly.” In this day and age, with social media as one of our largest forms of communication, we all need to understand a little deeper how powerful our words can be. And how we can manage our words better in the face of others. A valuable lesson to be learned and something our TPFG platform feels very passionate in striving towards for our girls. We are here to create community and empower a platform that is safe where girls come together. Odessa Goldberg is one teen certainly paving the way…

Odessa Simone Shlain Goldberg

This: millions of men and women of all ages across the world peacefully protesting for what they believe in, is what democracy looks like. This past weekend I along with many others took the streets. On Thursday afternoon I boarded a plane with my dad, mom and sister to the capital of our country: Washington DC. I wore a shirt with suffragette emblazoned on it. On the plane, many people wore pink pointed hats in defiance.

It was my first time in the capital. Wide eyed, I gaped at the Washington Monument swathed in night. We pulled up at the Watergate Hotel, the infamous hotel where the Nixon scandal occurred.

But this hotel has embraced the scandal, making Nixon’s resignation speech what it plays when you’re on hold. The next morning I awoke at noon, thoroughly jet lagged. We turned on the TV in time for Trump’s inauguration speech. It felt surreal to be in the same city as him and I watched bewildered as he proceeded to insult everyone surrounding him. As we walked into the lobby I saw my first “Make America Great Again!” hat in person, the bright, unnatural red unnerved me.